MORGANTOWN — To accommodate the design of WVU Hospitals’ forthcoming $233.5 million eye institute project, Morgantown City Council will consider a land swap that will relocate the road accessing the city’s North Side Fire Station (Station 3).
The issue will be up for first reading at Tuesday’s meeting.
Based on drawings included as part of the agenda packet, the fire department access will be part of the main entrance to the eye institute off Van Voorhis Road.
The entrance will pass beneath a pedestrian walkway connecting the four-story eye center with a 1,000-space parking garage.
During council’s recent committee of the whole meeting, a representative of WVU Hospitals said the bridge will be built in compliance with West Virginia Division of Highways standards and will offer plenty of clearance for fire apparatus.
Further, they said the entrance will be 36-feet wide with a dedicated fire lane.
“When the fire sirens go off, they have a dedicated lane to get out. No one is going to be in that lane. There’s no reason to be in it at all. So we accommodate that for the fire department particularly because we don’t want anyone stopping them, obviously,” he said. “Overall, in my opinion, we are benefitting the road and making it wider and more accessible for the fire department and for other citizens that are using that area.”
Attorney Ryan Simonton said leadership with the city and the fire department have signed off on the plan.
“Fire department leadership has approved the design and the documents and is comfortable they will be able to maintain access and operations at all times and this will not impact services,” he said.
Site preparation for the estimated 30-month eye institute project is expected to begin this month.
